The Locket
(US); (UK) | Production =10215 | Writer =Justin Monjo | Director =Ian Watson | Guests =Wayne Pygram (Harvey), Paul Goddard (Stark), Allyson Standen (Ennixx) | Episode list = | Prev =Won't Get Fooled Again | Next =The Ugly Truth }} A spatial phenomenon strands Aeryn and John for decades. Synopsis Moya is in a stellar mist, which is so compressed that her sensors can only read what is right in front of her, and it's also causing difficulties with navigation. Ka D'Argo and John Crichton are on command; John is waiting for Aeryn Sun, who has gone ahead on long-range recon. Zhaan has been meditating, and finds an old friend outside her quarters – Stark has returned, and says he has something important to tell her. They go to command, where Crichton says that Aeryn's been gone one solar day. Suddenly Aeryn signals Moya and wants to come aboard. Pilot sees an opening forming in the mist with a planet below and Aeryn's pod comes through. Everyone goes to greet Aeryn, but when she doesn't step out, they all go in, noting that the transport looks like it's been in a battle. A plant has overgrown in the pod and Zhaan says it's the same type of plant that she gave Aeryn to recover from her headaches shortly before she left but insists the plant she gave her was tiny. Crichton finds Aeryn lying face down on the floor and when he turns her over she looks extremely old. She tells Crichton that they must get out of here now... Aeryn wants to go back to the planet; she says that the opening won't last long and her granddaughter won't survive without the transport pod. She only came back to warn them to get out while they can, but Crichton tells her that she's only been gone for one solar day. She says that she forgot how beautiful and young he was, and asks if she's only been gone one day, how has her locket got so old. She's adamant that she lived for 165 cycles, had three sons and watched them die, but then she starts going a little crazy, so Stark takes off his mask and soothes her. Zhaan tells Crichton that her tests show she's really Aeryn and she has aged 165 cycles. Pilot has analysed the mist and found nothing, but says the planet is acidic and Aeryn couldn't even survive one cycle down there. Rygel and Chiana are snurching Aeryn's pod, when D'Argo comes along, and tells Chiana there's no dignity in what she's doing. He asks her to go look after Aeryn who may be dying. Chiana is with Aeryn when she wakes up, and Aeryn distracts her then knocks her out with a needle. She goes to Pilot to convince the others to stay out of the mist. She tells Pilot that he won't see her again, but she's glad she got to see him one last time. She returns to the planet in the pod, and when Crichton finds out he wants to go after her. Pilot says that the mist itself is harmless, and Crichton says that he'll be on the surface 30 microts maximum. He finds Aeryn on a barren planet which is suffering from sand storms and says she couldn't have lived here. She says that she lived on another planet, and he tries to take her back by force, but someone shoots at him and tells him that she'll kill him if he touches her grandmother again. The woman asks who he is and when he says "John Crichton" she is surprised. She says that Aeryn wasn't making it all up. All of her life, her grandmother has talked about him and the ship. Her father, Aeryn's son, even thought she was crazy. But every cycle Aeryn came back to check if Moya had returned. Aeryn wakes and says that the opening only lasts four arns; he has to go, now. He will be trapped for 55 cycles if he doesn't go back, so Aeryn tells him to go, and return in eight arns or he will be trapped. Chiana asks D'Argo why Aeryn spiked her, but he apologizes for embarrassing her in front of Rygel. He says that she's one of them now, so there's no need to act like she's not. Chiana says she knows, but she's not going to change for them. Zhaan calls them because Crichton is returning. He tells them that he met her granddaughter, when the pod hits turbulence. Pilot says that the hole is closing, and Crichton starts to break up. The planet is disappearing from Pilot's sensors and they tell Crichton to break entry. He refuses, but he doesn't make it – Moya is gone. Stark visits Zhaan, who is meditating for Crichton and Aeryn. He has a plan – apparently he's heard of "center halos," where time and space join and he thinks Moya may be stuck in one. He wants to join spirits with Zhaan because he's heard that Delvians can sense the time continuum when they're linked. He thinks that together they may be able to see if no time exists within the mist. His mind may overpower hers, but they do it anyway. While they are joined, Moya's readings go off the scale, and freezes. On another planet, sunny with trees and grass, Aeryn tells Ennixx (her granddaughter) that Crichton was happy for a few cycles, but something must have reminded him of the past. Apparently Aeryn has never shown any of her unhappiness and they've tried to make him happy, but Aeryn says he was always stubborn. All the while, an aged Crichton is walking along talking to a vision of Scorpius, with a full Southern accent. Zhaan and Stark tell the others what happened, and that Aeryn aged normally and it is Moya that is stuck in time and everyone they know outside the halo (and the planet) will have aged as well. Everything inside the halo becomes void of time forever when it hardens, and Pilot says it's hardening now. They want to leave and Pilot says the opening will reform in less than one arn. Crichton goes to Aeryn, where the trees they planted are now fully grown. Aeryn tells him to come and sit with her on a tree stump and he tells her he thinks that Ennixx's husband is boring. Aeryn says that she tried to want him to go back. She asks why he hasn't given up his past, but he says he doesn't want to be a gardener and all they do is plant things. Aeryn asks if he regrets spending the last 55 cycles with her. He says that she's the one thing that's kept him alive, but it's hope that keeps him going every day. Aeryn gets a pain in her chest, and as she stands up her locket falls off. She's anxious to get it back and Crichton asks who is in there. She says that he knows, but he doesn't think it's her husband, he thinks it's him. She denies it, and tells him to open it if he doesn't believe her – he'll see his image, the only love of her life. He says no, he doesn't want to see his ugly face. They return to the barren planet and Crichton breaks out the comm he kept sealed for 50 cycles and tries to contact Pilot. Ennixx begs Aeryn to return with her, but she says that the Peacekeepers are born in space and die in space – she belongs up there. They get nothing, and on Moya Pilot detects the opening in the mist forming. Crichton and Aeryn hear D'Argo reply, and they say that they'll come up right away. As they leave, Aeryn stumbles again, but says she's fine. The transport is docked, and as the others come to greet them, they see Crichton holding Aeryn in his arms – she died on the way up here. She's gone. Crichton tells everyone that if they leave the mist there is nothing there for them: a colony, some planets, but nothing to make them happy. Crichton has a theory though – if they exit the mist exactly where they entered they may be able to get return to the time just before Moya entered the rift. Pilot says to get to that point, he thinks they just have to go backwards. He thinks that the mist has moved with them – Moya's back is at the edge, but the mist is now so hard that they can't move. A reverse starburst would possibly destroy Moya as she isn't built for it and Pilot suggests that instead they go forward towards the planet. Crichton reminds everyone that if they do then they'll have to live their lives on a world where they'll never see anyone they know ever again. Everyone else agrees, refusing to live in a world where they have no past and can have no future, so the plan to initiate a reverse starburst is set as Crichton then returns to Aeryn. Crichton tells Aeryn that there are so many people and places that he wanted her to see and says that he misses her already. He turns and says that he loves her and kisses her one last time. Grasping her locket, he opens it to find a picture of himself when he was young; the only love of her life. Pilot initiates reverse starburst, but everything starts to slow and then stops. Zhaan and Stark manage to join and Zhaan speaks to Crichton via their bond of Unity. ("Rhapsody in Blue") He runs to command and just manages to manually initiate starburst before he stops completely and Moya exits the mist causing time to reset. On command, Crichton asks Pilot what it is and Pilot tells him that it's some kind of stellar mist. Chiana doesn't want to go in so Aeryn says that she'll fly a long-range recon to ensure it's safe. Zhaan breaks her meditation and runs to command. Her comm. isn't working, and she meets Stark on the way; they know what is about to happen. Pilot's about to enter the mist, but Zhaan tells him to stop. They ask what's wrong, and Zhaan and Stark realise that only they remember. Zhaan tells everyone that they had a vision and sensed great danger in there, so they avoid the mist. Zhaan asks Stark how Aeryn and Crichton are young again and Stark thinks that they remember because they were joined when Moya broke free. Stark says that it's time to tell D'Argo why he came aboard. Stark and Zhaan join D'Argo on command and Stark shows D'Argo a picture that he found of a slave being sold to some mines – the manifest lists him as Jothee, son of Ka D'Argo! D'Argo attacks Stark, asking him how long he's known and Zhaan tries to stop him saying that Stark wanted her awake before he told him. The auction isn't for a few days – they have time to rescue him. D'Argo tells Zhaan that they have to find a way. Crichton tells Aeryn that he has a feeling something happened between them, but he doesn't know what. Aeryn opens the locket that Chiana found in the transport, but the contents have disintegrated. As the locket is turned, and the contents fall as dust, the camera shifts to John and Aeryn as gaze intensely at each other and the End Titles emerge. Memorable quotes : A line that is reminiscent of the signature phrase of the Lethal Weapon series, which said by both characters Roger Murtaught and Martin Riggs.. *'John': I am too old for this shit. Background information * Paul Goddard briefly returns to the series as Stark. A scene explaining why he'd returned was written but cut; the scene also would have established a romantic connection between Stark and Zhaan which is heavily implied in later scenes in the episode. ( ) * Claudia Black took inspiration for her role from 's "regal but not dotty" performance in . ( ) * This was the first time Dave Elsey and Jim Henson's Creature Shop tried using "Hot Flesh" makeup to create an old age look, something typically done with foam. ( ) * A Crichton aged about 50 was creating using just makeup, but the scenes were cut from the final episode. ( ) * The outdoor scenes were filmed at Sydney's Centennial Park. ( ) * The scene where Chiana originally gave Aeryn the locket was scripted but never filmed. ( ) * Goddard was aware that Stark would be rejoining the crew for a period of time when the episode began filming. ( ) * Guy Gross produced a score that was different from his norm as he was inspired by the "real human emotion" in the story. ( ) * When Zhaan and Stark ask Old John to go to command, the line as scripted and performed by Browder was, "I'm too old for this shit." In ADR, Browder was asked to replace the expletive with the word "ship", but in the end "shit" remained in the final edit. ( ) * Black recalls that the episode was tough due to a lack of lead time saying, "I didn't know how the old age would manifest itself in terms of how much they would be doing prosthetics. It really is a balance. Some actors refer to it as 'mirror time' where whatever it is that you've been put in, be it make-up, costume, or both, you need to actually see how you will be presenting yourself to the camera, so you can work out the effect when you move, and the things you can do. ... If you don't know how the costume moves or how the make-up is working, you won't be able to look after yourself, and make the day run smoothly and quickly for the crew." ( ) * Black also noted that Elsey had decided that Aeryn "had become very plump as an old lady. They put me in what we affectionately called the 'fat suit', but it didn't read under clothes and so I had to make a decision about what I was doing with Aeryn physically without making it into some sort of school pageant performance." ( ) * Browder liked realizing the different way that the elderly are treated. He recalled, "I discovered that old guys, or guys who look like old guys, can get away with all sorts of stuff. 'Yep them young fellas don't understand what it's like. A woman needs an older man... a man who knows how to please a woman.' They can get away with that. I can never get away with that in a million years as me – as Ben – and John Crichton could never get away with it either. But as 'old man Crichton,' I could say anything I wanted and get away with it!" ( ) Links and references Starring * Ben Browder as John Crichton * Claudia Black as Aeryn Sun * Virginia Hey as Zotoh Zhaan * Anthony Simcoe as Ka D'Argo * Gigi Edgley as Chiana Guest stars * Wayne Pygram as Harvey * Paul Goddard as Stark * Alyson Standen as Ennixx Puppeteers * Tim Mieville * Sean Masterson * Graeme Haddon * Mat McCoy * Mario Halouvas Voice artists * Jonathan Hardy as Rygel * Lani Tupu as Pilot References arn; astronaut; barren planet; Caton mines; center halo; Command; commerce planet; comms; Crais, Bialar; Crichton, Jack; cycle; Delik; Delvian; favored planet; fellip juice; frell; Gammak Base; Goddess of the Delvian Seek; hezmana; Ka Jothee; kamikaze; Khalaan; Lethal Weapon; Leviathan; locket; Luna; Maine; metra; microt; mosquito; Moya; pea soup; prowler; pulse pistol; pulse rifle; rack off; Scorpius; solar day; starburst; systic; telephone; The Maid of Amsterdam; ThroneSled; transport pod; Unity; yotz; Zeccan leaf External link * Category:Season 2 episodes